cool brand (pun intended)

Order your choice of grind, and boutique roastery Eighthirty will deliver it to you. And if you're in downtown Auckland/Ponsonby, you can choose delivery by bike.

But it's their Cold Press coffee - in those cool-as-ice glass bottles - that are making me want a delivery right into my mouth.

(Design kudos to Butcher & Butcher)

Take me to the Oyster Inn

Scalloped stationery... me rikey

This is on my list of awesome things I intend to do this summer.  Do you have one of those lists?  

High fives to NZ designers Special Group for the yellow-striped hand-drawn type branding of The Oyster Inn, a restaurant and itty-bitty boutique accommodation on Waiheke Island. And a special high five where we end up shaking each others feet for the scalloped edges on the stationery. ooh, I like the way you do what you do. 

Style & Substance at Mexico

This place has it dialled. Seriously good food with big flavours (Hola, pulled pork soft taco with pineapple, chilli and salsa! Bueno, black doris plum margarita!), prices designed so you can try lots of dishes rather than just one, and a loud, fun atmosphere, made even louder and more fun by the mexicana interior (designed by renaissance man Nat Cheshire). Anyway, this is a design blog, hence all of the photos of the Mexico identity. I'm tipping my novelty-sized sombrero at you, APlus.

Supreme branding. Pun intended.

Now this is exciting. NZ brand Coffee Supreme have always impressed me with their branding, and it's just got even better, thanks to a re-brand from Auckland design duo Jen and Nik of Hardhat. 

It's slowly being rolled out here and in Australia, with the latest being the Supreme takeaway cups. Hardhat hand-drew 18 different illustrations for the black, white (and soon - itty bitty red) cups. I also love that they've included a knockout/silhouette version of the logo. Subtle is bloody classy, boys and girls.

Supreme's have their own in-house design team also, who've taken the new brand and applied it themselves to some very cool T-shirts, way-finding, packaging, even to stools with the logo silhouette punched out of them (designed by Supreme's Managing Director Al Keating).

Very nice work everyone. Round of applause.